It is known, in order to reduce cycle times in industrial production lines, to install vacuum systems having arrangements for the active release of objects from vacuum grippers that rely on sub-pressure or vacuum for gripping and moving the object. A solution that has often been put into practise is to allow compressed air into the vacuum gripper or into a line that supplies vacuum to the vacuum gripper, via a controlled valve, in order this way to interrupt the vacuum which holds the object to the vacuum gripper means. Another solution would be to connect the vacuum gripper or the supply line with atmospheric pressure, via a controlled valve.
Even if the firstly mentioned solution provides a fast release, this solution may however in some applications be too rough when fragile objects are concerned. In such applications the skilled person is limited to use the last mentioned solution, which however not always provides the desired fast response and may therefore hamper the rate of production.